A team of eight undergraduate students from the Department of Aerospace Engineering of Chennai-based private SRM University has bagged third position with a cash prize of $1000 at an international design competition in the field of aviation and space tourism held in the US. The competition named “Undergraduate Space Transportation Design Competition 2011-12″ was organised by American Institute of Aeronautics (AIAA).

The competition required participants to design and produce a business plan for commercial Earth-to-Orbit passenger vehicle. The vehicle should be capable of taking paying customers from earth to orbit and back for a variety of research and tourism purposes. The SRM University team only made the design and not a model. The competition aims to encourage space tourism where not only astronauts but the common man can also take space rides safely. As per the design, the winged rocket can carry up to fifty passengers per trip and can make around 21 trips in a year.

The space vehicle, named ‘Navshitij Vahak’ – The Carrier of New Horizon, was designed to orbit at a distance of around 370 km from the earth and the rocket will be powered with a mix of liquid and solid fuel.